POSTINGS: Lower East Side; A Bath House at Auction . . .

Published: April 26, 1992

For generations of Lower East Siders who had neither tub nor shower in their tenement homes, the "PVBLIC BATHS OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK" (that was how it proclaimed itself, in elegant lettering over the entry) was a welcome and necessary resort.

But the city got out of the public bathing business years ago and will place the Allen Street bath house on the auction block on Thursday.

It is one of 170 city-owned properties that the Department of General Services will bring to an auction beginning 9 A.M. in the auditorium of One Police Plaza, behind the Municipal Building.

Bidding will begin at $300,000 for the two-story bath house, between Delancey and Rivington Streets, which has been abandoned since 1988. While most properties are available to any qualified bidder, the city is restricting the sale of the bath house to not-for-profit users. In addition, the architectural features of the facade must be "protected, preserved, maintained and kept in good repair."

If the graffiti and cinder-block window seals can be overlooked, there is still a certain nobility to the structure. Its entry is framed by fluted pilasters, a pediment and a keystone with a seahorse. There are also medallions with scallop shells and wreaths.

Other properties being auctioned include a former subway system power house on West 96th Street, between West End Avenue and Broadway, for which bidding begins at $1.8 million; a three-story commercial building at 414 West 13th Street, near Ninth Avenue, for which bidding begins at $150,000 and a "taxpayer" building at Hollis Avenue and 202d Street in Queens, for which bidding begins at $150,000.

For further information call General Services at (212) 374-3135.

Photo: The city will auction its former public bath house at 133-135 Allen Street. (Jack Manning/The New York Times)